


left blank

by cupofkey



Series: drabble requests [9]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Historical References, Japanese Culture, Karate, Martial Arts, Nationverse, One Shot, Philosophy, Spiritual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26115970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupofkey/pseuds/cupofkey
Summary: An old mentor pays Kiku a visit.
Series: drabble requests [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1822141
Kudos: 9





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**Author's Note:**

> hi, here's some important background info:
> 
> \- Gichin Funakoshi is widely known as the "father of modern karate" and was one of the Okinawan masters who introduced karate to Japan via demonstrations and education.  
> \- the phrases/sayings the characters say are directly from Funakoshi's "Twenty Precepts" (二十訓, nijū kun), a set of principles his students were expected to live by.  
> \- kata: a series of movements/techniques ("choreographed", if you will) intended to teach the student proper form and flow. especially in the more traditional styles of karate, training with kata is very important and many early students spent years mastering just one.  
> \- [Tekki Shodan](https://youtu.be/vTqSo5UXzeE) (also called Naihanchi, the Okinawan name) is the kata Kiku practices in this. definitely check out the video linked!!!
> 
> this is a bit different from what I usually write... hopefully it all makes sense though! at the end, there's a link to a post I wrote discussing what I covered in greater detail, if you'd like more explanation/analysis. in the meantime, come talk to me on [tumblr](https://cupofkey.tumblr.com) and send in a request!
> 
> please enjoy :)

That oft-forgotten voice comes drifting back to Kiku when he doesn’t expect it— when he needs it. It’s been a long day, an especially soul-crushing one, really, clogged in bureaucracy and humid summer air. Even the piercing-cold AC doesn’t seem to make a dent in the thickness in his lungs. By the time he gets home and slumps on the floor after an unsatisfyingly lukewarm shower, he’s just about halfway convinced to pack up and ditch being a nation altogether.

And then some faint breeze carries back those words:

_ Apply the way of karate to all things, _ Funakoshi-sensei’s voice says to him.

“Yes, I understand,” Kiku whispers back, dipping his head.

_ Good, _ Funakoshi-sensei says, and if Kiku clenches his eyes shut hard enough, he can see a stout figure sitting across from him, fists resting on his hips and wearing a plain white gi.  _ Good, what’s next? _

“And therein lies its beauty,” Kiku breathes out, scratchy, tense.

_ That’s right, _ the voice replies.  _ So get up, Japan. _

Still screwing his eyes shut, Kiku gets to his feet, stands up as straight as he can. If he concentrates enough, he can hear the gentle rasp of fabric across tatami mats— the sound of his old teacher shifting into a kneeling position, a sound that brings back so many memories, so many days of a furious ache that consumed him whole and spat him out empty…

Those days are over, though. He’s not there anymore. He’s here, in his favorite apartment in Tokyo, with Pochi taking a nap on the couch and cool hardwood under his feet. He’s here, feeling weak and exhausted— 

_ Enough of that. When’s the last time you practiced kata? _

“I don’t know,” Kiku confesses. “Everything has been so busy. I’m very sorry.”

_ What are you waiting for, then? _

He tries to straighten out, swallow down his growing nerves. “I’m, ah… I’m afraid I’ll be a bit out of practice, sensei.”

_ Spirit over technique. You do remember these precepts, don’t you? _

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

_ No need. Let’s see it. _

Funakoshi-sensei’s figure in Kiku’s peripheral vision is unmoving, solid. He looks exactly like he did back then, face at once open and imposing, eyes completely immersed in the machinations of movement and form.

I missed him, Kiku thinks. I miss him, right now.

_ Empty mind, _ Funakoshi-sensei admonishes.

Right. Kiku bows, shifting into a ready stance, letting his mind drain and letting the ghosts of muscle memory take over. It’s been at least a year since he’s done this last; still, nothing can erase five years straight of nothing but Tekki Shodan, drilled until something as small as the first careful step could pull him into something meditative, sublime.

Back when it was still called Naihanchi, when the mere act of kata could momentarily quell that all-consuming fervor in his blood—

_ Your heart must be set free, _ the voice says.

Right. Okay. He takes that first step, crossing his left foot in front of his right and letting it barely brush the floor, and everything falls into place after that. Freedom, indeed; not brashness or hubris, not snarling strength, but simply the freedom of allowing himself to  _ move, _ to  _ experience, _ to act without the restraints of his conscious self pressing down on him. Nothing remains beyond instinct. Distantly, he knows he’s kicking, striking with his fists, elbows, his legs straining in deep stances. Here, though, the only thing left is something pulsing, purely kinesthetic, dark and quiet.

He finishes the kata, returns to the ready stance. His whole body is alight— his breathing is heavy— he brings his feet together and bows. 

Karate begins and ends with bowing, Kiku thinks.

_ Again, _ Funakoshi-sensei says.

“Yes, sensei.”

Kiku bows, and he shifts his feet, and he does the kata again. And again. By the third or fourth repetition, his muscles are aching, legs shaking when he sinks into deep stances. Breathing steadily feels impossible— he keeps going. Words drift back to him here and there, between steps and strikes and kicks. 

Calamity springs from carelessness. 

Know yourself before knowing others. 

It’s been a long, long time. He keeps going.

There comes a point where he bows to end the kata and can’t move his feet to begin the next repetition, where even the act of keeping his eyes shut feels like too much. He’s about to open his mouth to say as much when he’s promptly interrupted:

_ Sit down properly, then, _ Funakoshi-sensei sighs.  _ You’re out of shape. _

Kiku kneels, grimacing as he folds his hands in his lap. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

_ Didn’t I already say? No need. How busy have things gotten, then, since you’re struggling so much now? _

“I don’t know,” Kiku says, frankness seeping into his voice, all the residual exhaustion and frustration from the day’s work resurfacing. “I feel listless. Stagnant. It hasn’t been the best time for me.”

_ When has it ever been, for anyone? _

“That’s true.”

_ You’ve always been older and wiser. I shouldn’t need to tell you these things. Has the modern age really changed you that much? _

Kiku doesn’t have an answer for that.

_ Breathe deeply, Japan. Be present. And summon up the conviction I know you have. _

Breathing deeply suddenly feels impossible with the lump in his throat— Kiku has the urge to place his palms on the hardwood, to bow until his forehead touches the cool floor, and so he does just that.

“Thank you very much, sensei,” he says.

_ You don’t need to do that, do you? _

“I needed this, so I’m very grateful. Thank you for coming to see me.”

Funakoshi-sensei chuckles. And then he’s just… gone, something that strikes Kiku as less of a shocking realization and more of a fact, leaving behind an empty living room and Kiku’s empty self.

He stands up. For the first time in a while, his head isn’t humming with stress, his shoulders aren’t clenched tight. Mostly, he finds himself blinking out at the world around him—

Taking in each second, each noise, each feeling, projecting it onto his empty self—

Karate is a lifelong Way, Kiku thinks. Karate goes beyond the dojo. Karate is blank, a way of being, a way of nothingness, for form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. He bows to the lingering ghost of his teacher in front of him. Then, he slides his foot across the hardwood floor and begins anew.

**Author's Note:**

> [more detail here](https://cupofkey.tumblr.com/post/627480824310382592/karate-and-hws-japan-pt2)
> 
> thanks for reading! let me know what u think :)


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